Just Human
by anuminis
Summary: Don alway knew that Colby would crack. It was never a question when but about what.


Colby slammed his fist against a locker in the FBI changing room. He inhaled sharply as the pain flooded through his hand, holding it before he let it out in a shudder.

"I hate this job," he said, his exclamation almost drowned by the noise he made as he ripped his own locker open.

But Don had heard it. He had followed his agent to make sure he was alright. Obviously he is not, Don thought, because he had never heard Colby complain about anything.

Don looked at Colby, his agent was pale and trembling; his clothes smeared with blood.

Colby opened his blood soaked Kevlar vest and yanked it over his head, not caring anymore, he tossed it on the ground; the white shirt followed. The red blood was a stark contrast to the pure white.

Don gulped and licked his lips as he saw Colby's bare back. His eyes were fixed on the flexing muscles under the smooth sunbathed skin.

Colby put on a navy blue shirt and started to button it up.

Don blinked and woke out of his trance. Bad Don, bad Don; now is not the time to lust after Colby he thought and kicked himself mentally. Colby clearly needed help any help he could get.

"You okay," he asked and started to strip his own vest.

Colby snorted in a twisted way, but said nothing.

"Pretty tough case," Don continued trying to get Colby to talk.

"You can say that," was Colby's short response before he started to work on his thigh holster. All he wanted was to get the hell out of there and take a long hot bath.

Don sighed and put his vest into his locker. "It's not supposed to work like that," he said and looked at Colby.

For the first time, since they entered the changing room, Colby looked at him.

"What is not supposed to work like that," he almost spat.

"You should talk about what happened, about what you feel, think." He loosened his own holster.

"Says the right person. Don't go all Megan on me." Colby went silent and turned to his locker. God mentioning Megan made his head hurt even worse.

Don forced himself to stay calm. He watched Colby sit down to unlace his shoes.

"I know," he said and sucked in his lower lip. "I know I'm not the right person to say this, but I tried – learned. It helped me. Colby it helped." He turned to his locker and pulled his t-shirt over his head; he listened for a response but Colby kept quiet. Grabbing a new shirt he put it on while turning back towards his agent.

Colby had his head in his hands, his body shock with silent sobs. Don rushed to his side, sat next to him and put a comforting hand on his back.

"I'm for the death penalty against animal abusers," he said laughing, trying desperately not to lose it in front of Don.

Don was taken aback by this statement but remembered the crime scene where they had been bare minutes before. Who could forget that sight?

"You know I thought I had seen everything that one can see in our line of duty. But this today…" his voice cracked and he started to tremble violently, Don gently rubbed his back. Colby laughed again trying to grasp why he beat himself up over this.

"Today was just senseless and cruel. Those dogs beaten to death, crippled alive. I just don't understand how someone can do this."

Don thought back to the scene. It was—had been an animal shelter for homeless dogs; most of them were already dead when they had arrived. Killed cruelly and calculated. Beaten and crushed others simply slaughtered or skinned alive. It had been a disturbing sight, it still was, but they had to do the job, find this monster and bring him to justice.

Colby sobbed again, wiping his tears away with his left hand. Don growled angrily as he thought of the monster that had brought this upon Colby.

"The Butcher" the press had named him; a name that the bastard had truly lived up to. Before they had caught him today, he had murdered—slaughtered ten people. But the mere fact that he had brutally killed five couples wasn't the most disturbing part of this case.

No it was the fact that this monster took enormous pleasure in torturing and killing the couples's dogs in front of their owners' eyes before he turned his blade on them.

This case had been a stretch on everybody's nerves. Charlie's math alone hadn't helped them this time to catch this devil. They had to call in the BAU. Together with Agent Hotchner and his team they were able to corner "the butcher" aka Alastor MacCarter and force him into making a mistake. Which had led them to the animal shelter, where they had caught him, but still too late to help any of the dogs.

They had cuffed him as he was performing an amputation on a conscious beagle. God those whimpers and yelps had burned into his brain. He remembered that Colby had rushed to the beagle, had tried to calm and reassure this little innocent creature.

The dog had died in Colby's arms and it seemed Colby with him.

Colby spoke again. "You know we created them - dogs; we made them dependent on us. They love us unconditionally. How can someone, anyone abuse this trust they have in us?

A dog that gets beaten by his owner will come back to them again and again and again. He doesn't know why he get's beaten all he wants is to please us, be there for us and we could kill him just like that. He would look at us, would still love us and wag his tail and die for us. How can someone abuse this love? This trust," he repeated and shook his head sobbing silently.

"That beagle… HE tried to reassure ME! Tried to say that everything was going to be okay. Those eyes were so innocent. So full of love, after all that happened to him. He licked my hand, you know." Colby let his tears fall down unchecked, he didn't care anymore.

Don put his arm around Colby and hugged him.

"It's okay," he said barely able to hold his own tears. "It's going to be okay."

He's going to make it okay.

Don had always known that someday Colby's façade would crack, that someday the mighty Granger would show that he was still human after all. He just was amazed that Colby didn't crack over the senseless violence that human beings lay upon other human beings. No he'd cracked over the senseless death of an innocent dog.


End file.
